Requirement Definition Before Choosing an SMT Partner Enquiries for assembly work usually begin with the board and the quantity, and they usually omit the two things that determine which supplier is suitable: how accurately the work has to be done, and what the deadline actually is. Without those, a quotation…

High-End Board Supply: Reports, Materials and Scheduling Risk Supplying a high-end board is a different business from supplying an ordinary one, and the difference shows up in three places: the materials, the measurements and the schedule. The materials are specialised and less freely available, the measurements are what prove that…

High-Density Placement: Matching the Line to the Work Demand for dense electronic assemblies has grown faster than the capacity to build them, and the effect is felt in the ordinary parts of a project rather than in the exotic ones. Boards that carry area-array packages, fine-pitch devices and large numbers…

PCBA Order Failure Modes: Low Price, Lead Time and Response An assembly order rarely fails because the work was difficult. It fails through one of a small number of recognisable situations, and nearly all of them are visible before the order is placed. Knowing which failure mode is most likely…

Verifying an SMT Factory: Equipment, Lines and Certification Most assembly services describe themselves in the same terms. They have equipment, they work to recognised standards, they inspect their output and they deliver on time. Since every one of those claims is easy to make, the useful work for a customer…

Sourcing Dense Multilayer Boards: What to Verify Boards that carry high-speed signals across many layers are a different sourcing problem from ordinary control boards, and the difference is not only the number of layers. The materials, the drilling, the plating, the lamination cycles and the impedance requirements all move into…

Order Mix and Line Capability in SMT Assembly The balance of work in electronics assembly has moved. Requirements that were once a single large order repeated for years now arrive as a sequence of smaller ones in several variants, revised more often and delivered against dates that move. The order…

PCBA Delivery: Packing, Batch Separation and Documentation The end of an assembly order is not the moment the last board passes inspection. It is the moment the customer can use what arrived, which depends on how the boards were protected, how they were identified and whether the accompanying information describes…

PCBA Test Services: From Power Check to Functional Verification A board that has been assembled correctly and a board that works are two different claims. The gap between them is the test stage, and its scope varies enormously between projects: a simple power check on one order, a programmed and…

Piece Price Versus Real Cost in Small-Batch SMT Quotations for small assembly orders are usually compared on one number: the price for each placement. It is a convenient way to compare two suppliers, and on a large, unchanging order it is not far from the truth. On a small order…